Hi lovelies,
As a creative, you need to be full of fresh ideas. As an entrepreneur, however, you need to be focused on business. This can be a hard juggling act. Fortunately, there are ways to make it easier. Here are three tips to help.
Develop your own organizational system
Try out some mainstream organization solutions and see if you can find one which gels with you. If not, think about what you like and dislike about what you’ve seen. Then use those ideas to put together a system that works for you.
You may find you get on better with paper than with digital systems. Paper is a lot more straightforward and arguably more flexible than digital systems. Plus it doesn’t require batteries and gives your eyes a break from screens. You can always photograph what you write if you want a digital record of it.
You might also find it helpful to keep an “ideas book” with you at all times. That way you can jot down inspiration whenever and wherever it strikes. If you’re not a paper person then use the note-taking app on your phone or even your voice recorder.
Automate your admin
Even creatives have to deal with a lot of routine admin work. The good news is that other people have to deal with the same sorts of admin tasks. That means if there’s a way to make it easier or quicker, somebody else has probably figured it out for you.
You can get how-to guides for pretty much anything you might need to do in business. You can also get templates for all kinds of situations. For example, did you ever think that you might need a free non-compete agreement template? Last but definitely not least, you can get free tools that can pick up a lot of the admin load.
If you have a bit of budget, then it can be well worth investing some of it in more premium tools. Accounting software should usually be at the top of your list. It’s a lot easier to use than it might sound and it really can speed up your financial tasks.
Build flexibility into your scheduling
Knowledge workers can grit their teeth and force themselves through a 9 to 5. That does not, however, necessarily work for creatives. Trying to come up with ideas when your brain just doesn’t want to is a bit like trying to force yourself to get to sleep. It’s not discipline. It’s fighting what your body and mind are trying to tell you.
Instead, keep on top of what tasks need to be done but allow yourself a bit of flexibility about when, where, and how you do them. As long as you’re clear about what your priorities are, e.g. what are your nearest deadlines, you should be absolutely fine.
You might also want to think about what work you need to do “at base” and what can be done in other places. Then think about what tools/materials you need to do that work. Try keeping them together in a bag and giving yourself a change of scenery from time to time. This doesn’t have to mean going out, although it can, it could just mean working somewhere else in your home.
